Revelations in the Dark
by PICKET-FENCES-CLOSER
Summary: Maxine is relishing in her freedom to explore her new skills and desires in the real world, while the FBI sets a trap to bring her to justice. Kenny struggles trying to reclaim his daughter from her own darkness. They are on a crash course with each other, and not everyone will get a happy ending in this Final Story in the Revelations Universe.
1. Chapter 1

**We left Max and Ella in a pretty messed up state at the end of the last one. Follow Max as she enjoys her freedom, while the FBI sets a trap to bring her to justice and Kenny's struggle trying to reclaim his daughter from her own darkness. They are on a crash course with each other, and not everyone will come out unscathed. Part 3 of my take on the Revelation Stories: Enjoy Revelations in the Dark.**

* * *

 **3 Years Later: Eastern Europe**

Got to make a living, the woman formerly known as Maxine Lacos thought, taking the silencer off her gun and slipping into the shadows. Putting my skills to good use to scratch my itch. Smiling, she climbed on her motorcycle, and sped off into the night.

 **3 Years Later: Chicago.**

Kenny sat in his parent's parlor, watching Hannah color on the floor as he sat with a happy Ella. Who the receptionist isn't pressing charges on, and Dr. Bailey still wants to see. Ella who wakes up screaming, crying for Max, asking for Noah… Max, I can't think about her now, she did it to herself. Noah sucks. Ella, I can save her. I couldn't save her mother, but I can save my daughter.

"Daddy?" she asked. "Daddy, are you still mad?"

"Never, Kiddo," he said, stroking back her red hair. "You knew Grandma and Grandpa what to take you and Hannah to Disney World?"

She nodded. "If Dr. Bailey says I can. I just wanted to see if she'd be like my picture, Daddy. Noah said the leg was the best place to learn."

I'd kill him myself if Max hadn't already. The one good thing she did with him. No, two, she sent our kids home with Jill. "Not on people, El. You know how it feels when you skinned you knee? You don't want to hurt anyone like that."

"But Noah said."

I hate Noah. I hate what he turned Max into and what he locked in Ella's head. "He was wrong, El, we don't hurt people like that."

"Mommy did. Noah showed me her doing it."

"Mommy was wrong too. Deep down, she knew that," Kenny said. "It's why she sent you and Hannah back to me."

"But I like it, Daddy. Mommy and Noah liked it. Noah said I'd be just like Mommy when I grew up."

Noah is an asshole. "Why do you like it?"

"Noah said I should."

"Ah, El," he said, hugging her close. I wish I could resurrect him and kill him myself. "You don't have to do anything Noah said. I love you, Kiddo."

 **3 Years Later: Sheriff Station**

"Morell," Jimmy said, shaking his hand. "What brings you back here?"

"I had something that may interest you," Morell admitted. "A few things actually. How often do you talk to Kenny Lacos?"

Jimmy felt a pang in his chest. "Not often…He's cut most of his ties here. Jill does, she feels responsible toward Ella and Hannah. Why?"

"I have a watch on them. Unofficially, with who their mother is."

Max, Jimmy thought, the videos of her killing 18 women seared in her brain. She saved Jill, she killed Noah, saved her kids, vanished. She became complicit, she told Jill she liked it and planned on continuing to kill…but to protect her kids from her. "Any leads?"

"One thing at a time. Ella Lacos is in therapy, she's showing signs of being like her mother."

Jimmy nodded, remembering Jill's tears over it. The video of the dog, the blood and flesh cookies, how much did Max know? "She's seven, she can…Kenny hasn't worked in years, he's doing everything he can for her."

"I hope it's enough. The girl has been through a lot," Morell said. "We have a lead on Maxine. There has been chatter over the past two years of a new assassin for hire. One who is particularly lethal, with both knives and guns and leaves no trace of herself. She is very high in demand."

"You think it's Max?"

"I know what I saw in the videos. We both know what she is capable of, Sheriff."

"You're laying a trap?"

Morell nodded. "We're setting up a request on the darknet. If it's her, we'll get her. If not, at least it's some other killer off the street."

"I want in. She nearly got my wife killed, killed 18 people with Noah Quinn, she destroyed Kenny," Jimmy said. "She needs to be put in prison."

"Let's get her."

 **3 Years Later: Chicago**

I could kill Max, Kenny thought, locking Ella's door behind him. I swear if I ever see her again, I might. It's better than she deserves for what she did. I deserve better than her. Ella and Hannah don't deserve to be the kids of Monster Mom…Fresh start, once Ella is okay. I can't let her end up like Max. Even she didn't want that.

"Kenny?"

"I hate locking her in there, Mom."

"I don't care about the cat, Kenny. I care about my granddaughter and her screaming for her mother."

"Her mother won't ever get near her again," Kenny stated. "She was four, she couldn't say no…Her mother jumped right into his arms and…she's just, more, responsible for El's problems than him. I want her caught, I want to look into her eyes and make her see what she destroyed."

"Kenny."

"I loved her. I wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. We were going to have a big family, and…she threw it away. No, she let her arrogance destroy her instead of letting me help her. I don't think I'll ever be over it."

 **3 Years Later: Cambridge, MA**

Yoga, Max thought, my other life. Leah Carson. Yoga instructor. Good old gardening, book club, organic food eating, health guru, knitter, Leah. Everyone loves Leah. Stretching a bit, she admired herself in the mirror. Her hair dyed black and cropped to very short two inches, accenting her cheekbones and making her green eyes appear grayer than before. Yoga, she thought, another way I squashed the itch to kill, changed my body and mind. Controlled.

"Good class, Leah. Are you up for a coffee?"

Max looked up, smiling at her friends. "If I can get a green tea instead."

 **3 Years Later: Chicago**

"It's a school for…troubled kids," Kenny said. "Dr. Bailey wants us to send here there for a semester. She's seven, how do I…She was such a…Mom, I want her to get the help she needs."

"I know how much you love her, Kenny."

Like I loved her mother, he thought, her serial killer mother. "She's not getting better. I could live with her crying for her mom because before all of this, Max was a great mom."

Sarah nodded, squeezing her son's hand. "I know she was. I know you hate taking money from us. We will support you and pay for whatever Ella and Hannah need. It's what the money is for."

"She was locked in that bunker; how do I lock her away again?"

"To help her, Kenny. She was traumatized. She needs more help than we can give her," Sarah said. "I know you wanted to…You couldn't save Max, I know you wanted to. I know how much you loved her. Let's help Ella now."

Kenny let out a long breath. My little girl, how do I do this to her? "I'll make the calls. Thanks, Mom. For all of this. Not just the money and letting us live here, everything."

 **3 Years Later: Brock House**

"She didn't kill me," Jill said. "I have to believe…I want to believe she's a better person than she was with him."

"I didn't want to believe she killed all those people either. I know he forced her in the beginning, that something cracked inside her," Jimmy said. "Whether it was self-preservation, a way to cope, the ending ones…That wasn't the deputy I knew. She told you she planned on continuing killing. Of course, she'd find a way to make it productive and a living out of it. She goes by Quinn Harper on the darknet. It has to be her."

"They'll kill her."

"They want to question her. Study her," he said. "The videos tell a story, we watched Noah Quinn transform her into a merciless killer. Her story…I want to know what happened to her down there."

 **3 Years Later: Cambridge, MA**

 _Job accepted. Transfer here._

 _We'll pay after the job is done._

 _That's not the way I do business. If you want my services, you transfer the five million now._

 _You better be worth it, Quinn. Your money will be there in an hour._

 _I'll be in touch._

Max smiled to herself, shutting her computer and severing the connection. Time to get to work.

 **3 Years Later: Sheriff Station**

"Quinn Harper accepted," Morell said. "We've dug deeper into her two years on the darknet."

"How many has she killed?" Jimmy asked. "How much as she profited by this?"

"We paid her five million. She's done 20 jobs we can verify, for between one to 20 million," Morell said. "Your deputy is doing very well for herself financially. The people, Sheriff…the women she killed with Noah Quinn, they were a mix of all walks of life. He brought them to her to learn on, to teach her how to kill. It didn't matter to either of them who they were."

"I saw the videos. I know."

"She's been killing child molesters, sex traffickers, rapists, criminals."

"She doesn't get to be judge, jury and executioner."

"I know. It's a quite a turnabout though, if this Quinn Harper is Maxine."

 **3 Years Later: Chicago**

"Daddy? Don't you love me?"

"Ah, El, I love you more than anything," he promised, hugging her tightly one more time. "You're going to have a great time here and I'll come visit."

"Mommy and Noah too?"

I hate Noah. Max made her choices with him, Ella had none. "No, Kiddo. We've talked about this."

"I want Mommy!" she screamed, lunging at him and sinking her teeth into his arm. Drawing blood, she tore his flesh away. "I hate you Daddy!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Cambridge, MA**

He's too perfect, Max thought, researching her target, as she flipped through the dossier. A teacher, accused of raping his students…never brought to trial. Hmm…nothing about him online. Frowning, she began to search for Robert Mendelson, her instincts telling her something wasn't quite right with the easy set-up of this job. He raped little girls, she thought, studying the FBI case file and got off because his parents were diplomats. Bastard. No one should hurt kids. Smiling, she flipped the folder closed…this one I want to hurt. Not just a kill shot, but hurt.

She sighed, looking up at the ceiling in her loft, maybe it's time to move on from Leah Carson and Quinn Harper. Vanish into the night, I have more than enough to live on for the rest of my life. I can kill only when necessary, to scratch the infernal itch…I can be okay again. Settle down…no, I won't check in on them. Never. Maxine Lacos is dead…they'll never know me.

 **Chicago**

"What?" Kenny said, as he passed Hannah off to his mom. "You found her?'

"We don't know," Jimmy said, filling Kenny in on what the FBI is planning. "They're pretty sure it's her."

"They think she turned herself into an assassin?" he asked flatly. "That she is just going around and doing this for money? What the hell is wrong with her? How much has she made doing this? Does she have any idea…this is what she abandoned our kids for? God damn it, Max."

"Morell wants you to come in on this."

He looked at his bandaged arm and Hannah with his parents. I'm not leaving them like she did. Hannah will never feel what Ella does. Damn it Max. "I'm not leaving. We just put Ella…She's in a school for troubled kids for six months. Outpatient therapy wasn't working anymore. Catch my wife. Lock her up, throw away the key. I don't care about the why anymore. She ruined Ella's childhood and she may have enjoyed her turn into a psychopath, but she's not dragging El down with her."

"He thinks Max will talk to you when they catch her."

"I have nothing to say to her."

"She killed Noah to save your kids. It might be the only way to…we can't save her. She's made her choices. She might have some insight into Ella."

"She's not getting near Ella. I don't care if she finds Jesus, cures cancer, or stops a dozen lunatics like her. She's not getting near my kids ever again. Ella bit me when I left her at the school swallowed my blood and skin. I needed 10 stitches. That's Max's legacy to her. If you catch her, great, we're not a part of this. I need to concentrate on El and Hannah. Good bye, Jimmy."

 **Cambridge, MA**

Max sipped her wine on the patio, nodding along with her girlfriends. Her mind drifting to her upcoming trip, Robert Mendelson, who are you really? "It's going to be an amazing retreat. Guru Patterson is supposed to enlighten and free your soul."

Ciara refilled her glass. "I know. Leah, I brought a surprise for you."

She swirled the wine in her glass, locking down her dark thoughts away from a nice night out with friends. "If it's more wine, that would be fantastic."

"No. I was telling Mark about my amazing friend who hasn't had a date in months," Ciara teased. "Just meet him, please? How long, really, has it been, Lee?"

Max groaned, taking another sip. "I've been busy teaching, traveling, I haven't had time. Really, he's coming tonight?"

"You look great," Ciara said. "He thinks you're gorgeous…I showed him a pic from our last night out."

I need to stop having my picture taken, she thought, catching sight of herself. I don't look like Maxine Lacos anymore with this hair, make up and yoga shed whatever body fat I once had, but…if anyone looked close enough they might. She adjusted her flowing top over tight jeans and made herself relax into Leah again. I do enjoy this hair, she admitted, dark, tousled, and super short. Leah Carson, serene yoga guru. "Okay, I'll meet him. I've had some run ins with creeps lately…he's okay?"

"You'll love him. I promise."

Max smiled at that. Love may be a problem. I can handle the creeps.

 **Chicago:**

"It doesn't matter. She doesn't matter," Kenny said, passing Hannah the box of crayons. "Max made her choice."

"I know," Charlie said, joining his wife and son in the living room. "The two of you spent plenty of time here. We have the best security. She won't hurt these girls, and once Ella is home? We'll do whatever it takes."

Kenny nodded, feeling a familiar twinge of guilt for not saving her. For letting her become this monster. What could have been, he thought, looking at Hannah. I loved her, I still love who she was, who we were together. "Thanks, Dad."

 **Rome, WI**

"I can talk to him," Jill said. "You weren't down in that place. You didn't see Noah in action. Max did awful things, but he was in her head, guiding every step of the way. She's not blameless, she's a vicious killer, but I hope…Maybe she can't be rehabilitated, but we can bring some peace to her mind again. Kenny wants to protect his kids from that, but deep down? He'd still do anything…at least for the Max he knew."

"She's not her anymore."

"I know. She saved me from Noah, so I have to believe there is some sliver of goodness left in her."

Killing criminals, Jimmy thought, that doesn't absolve her. Even if it's Max, we don't know who she'll be when we lock her up.

 **Chicago: Kenny**

"She is deeply disturbed," Dr. Harrison said bluntly, three weeks later. "Dr. Bailey sent me her file, and I've studied her history, Mr. Lacos."

"Kenny, please," He said. "Can you help her? Is she making progress?"

"She is. Her nightmares are horrifying her. Her mother," he said. "She loves her mother very much, and is conflicted about what Noah made her watch her do. She alternately asks for Noah and is terrified of him."

Kenny gulped at that. "What can I do?"

"Does she know that Noah Quinn is dead? She needs to understand about her mother."

"She knows Max, her mother, ran away. We told her it wasn't her fault, that her mom loves her, but…Noah. I hate that bastard. Okay. Whatever she needs to get well. She hasn't…she hasn't bitten or stabbed anyone here?"

"No. Shall we go, Kenny?"

I'm so sorry, El, he thought, we'll make this right.

 **Chicago: Max**

Max smiled at the bartender as she sipped her drink in the Chicago dive bar. Old haunts, she thought, I've been here before. That one night we left Ella with Sarah and Charlie, we cancelled our romantic dinner, to do a pub crawl and spent the entire time making out in bars. Smiling, she sipped her beer and let the memory warm her a bit, when he wasn't an overprotective ass, we did have some fun. Of course, the job is in Chicago…I should have said no, the temptation is too great here.

"Hello, Gorgeous. Buy you a drink?"

"I have one," Max said, smiling slowly at him. "Why don't we finish these ones, and I'll give you what you really want."

He slid into the booth across from her. "I think I like you."

Max drained her beer, feeling reckless and out of control. "I'll be waiting for you."

 **Chicago: Kenny**

"Kenny, we have company," Charlie called, hearing his son come in the backdoor. "How did it go?"

Ella screaming, attacking Dr. Harrison, he thought, sedating her. She wants her mom. Medication, anti-psychotics, she's seven. The FBI setting a trap for Max…no. I won't let Max near her when they find her. "Not great…Ah, crap. Now what?"

"Kenny," Jimmy said, as he and Morell stood up. "You weren't going to take our calls."

"My kid just tried to eat her shrink today. That's my only priority right now."

"She did what?" Charlie asked. "Is she okay?"

"They drugged her. She's getting worse," Kenny said, his heart shattered. "All she keeps screaming for is her mom."

"Who we're here to catch," Morell said. "The sting is set, we're just waiting for her appear."

"Here?" Kenny said. "You're bringing here?"

"Killing a child rapist and being in proximity of her own children? It's too tempting. She's coming. It's who she is killing, Kenny, rapists, pedophiles, which doesn't excuse it. In her twisted way, she's trying to make good with her skill set."

Ella's school is locked down. Mom and Dad have the most secure house in the state. Hannah is safe here. "You think she's here?"

"We haven't seen her yet."

I want to wring her neck. "I want to be there when she's brought in."

 **Chicago: Max**

They're watching him, she thought, noting the unmarked cars by Mendelson's apartment. Do they know what he is? Or is this something else…are they waiting for me? Quinn Harper can't resist a child diddler who is so close to her former children? Kenny, she thought with a smile, are you trying to bring me home? Leaning against the tree, she stretched a bit, blending in with the other joggers around her. Quinn Harper finishes what she starts, she thought, but…he's here. My husband, kids, no, I promised myself never.

"They won't be like me," she said under her breath, fighting her dark thoughts. They need their father and grandparents…not me. I'm not their mother. Kenny…I need to meditate, center myself, I shouldn't be here.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chicago: Kenny**

"You should go," Kenny said, as Hannah climbed in his lap with her stuffed pony. "You haven't caught her yet?"

Jimmy regarded his former deputy, with his three-year-old. The baby that Jill brought back to him, the one who only had Noah Quinn and Max in her life for two days and he vowed that her and Ella wouldn't ever suffer again. He's given them everything and Ella is still losing her mind, much like her mom did there. "Not yet."

"But you think she's here."

Jimmy paused, not really knowing what was going on in his head. His kids, he thought, their wellbeing is it for him. "They monitor the darknet boards, there has been chatter of this being a set up.

Kenny sat back, his heart dropping to his knees. "Hannah? You might to make our guest a picture? Grandma got you some new crayons."

"I want to stay with you, Daddy."

"They have someone on your house and the school. We don't know what's changed in her. She held on to the part that saved," Jimmy said, nodding at Hannah. "It's been three years."

Still killing, he thought, and Ella slowly losing her mind…What if Max is the same way? That he put a failsafe in them that only he could turn off? She killed him, to get Ella out and…Damn it, Max. She wanted to save her, and…Noah is the biggest ass on the planet. "We need to find her. Now."

"Kenny?" Jimmy asked, as he stood up and took Hannah with him. "What is it?"

He shook his head. "She always takes care of her jobs in two weeks? It's been too long. She's too arrogant to walk away from the challenge and…there is something else. Mom? Can you take Hannah for a while?"

 **Chicago: Max**

Just in case, Max thought, lining up her shot. As much as I would like to slice his balls off, this feels like…this isn't right. Smiling slightly, as eyed Mendelson as he walked toward the coffeeshop. Bye-bye.

 **Chicago: Kenny**

"We know," Morell said. "Noah Quinn planned for ever possibility with Maxine. He didn't do it to her, he did it to Ella. He wanted to make sure she stayed."

"You're just telling us this now? Did Max know?" Jimmy asked. "Does she know now?"

"What the fuck didn't you say something? She's on anti-psychotics! Her doctor is considering electroshock. What the hell did he do to her?" Kenny exploded. "Max is a god damn serial killer! Of course, something is wrong with her! He put a fucking time bomb in Ella on top of that? She's killed dozens of people! That's what he wanted and … God damn it, Max! What did that asshole do to Ella? What the fuck did she let him do? How do I fix it?"

"Maxine didn't know. He conditioned her, and that has created a ruthless assassin. She could be an asset the FBI in understanding serial killers."

"I don't care about Max. I care about getting my daughter the help she needs. What did he do to her?"

 **Chicago: Max**

Max put her rifle down as she watched Mendelson being hit by the car. Letting out a giggle, she laid back on the roof top and stared at the sky. I can leave, she thought, go back to Leah Carson, yoga, centering myself again. Not here. Never here again.

 **Chicago, Kenny**

"Mendelson is dead," Morell said. "And not by Quinn Harper. He was hit by a drunk driver."

"So, Max is gone," Kenny stated, his rage at his wife knowing no bounds. "Free again to continue her reign of terror?"

"No," Morell said. "How badly do you want to help your daughter?"

"You're not using Ella to get to Max. She's been through enough."

"Kenny," Jimmy interjected. "She might know what Noah did to her. She might be able to turn it off."

"Why would she want that? She seems pretty damn happy with her choices."

"She saved Ella and Hannah. She told Jill to bring them home and to keep them safe. You know, at that moment, she regretted it. Noah changed her, in every way he could, she may love murdering people now, but she held onto to something of herself for Ella and Hannah. I have to believe that it's still there and she'd help her again."

"Max can't even help herself."

"He conditioned and brainwashed her."

Played house with him…he was all over from day one. She went from be repulsed to his bed in three weeks. Reckless, danger, he played with that part of her, the risk taker. The part of her that throwing our life away…of course this appealed to her. Of course, she's good at it. She slept with him three weeks in. "She could have turned herself in three years ago. Instead she ran, decided to keep killing and now makes a profit on it."

"She thought she was saving your daughter and baby by sacrificing herself. Whatever Maxine is now, that much is true. We will catch her, Kenny, its if it's in time to fix what's wrong with Ella that is on the table."

Take a page from my serial killer wife's handbook, he thought numbly, would she do this? Yes, it's pure Max, reckless and wild. Damn it, Max. "What's the plan?"

 **Chicago: Max**

She sighed, a bit disappointed with her lack of finishing off Mendelson. He got what he deserved, she rationalized. He won't hurt anyone else. I want to hurt someone, she thought, mulling over her dark thoughts. Toying with her favorite knife, she sat on the bed, her urges taunting her. It's been too long…I need to. The bar, lure someone and…No. No more Chicago, it's too tempting. Fighting her urge, her itch, she dug her nails into the comforter. Not them, not ever them…I can't. I promised myself. Promises break, she argued with herself, they are a part of you. They're just like you. Train them now, they can be even better than me.

"No," Max hissed, feeling the darkness rising inside her. I won't. "Don't make me."

 _"Take them. Train them, Maxine."_

"No."

 _"You'll never be rid of me."_

"I killed you."

 _"You've killed 32 people. I'm a mere one of your art. Take your children, kill your husband. Our dream, our plan, I made you and you must fulfill it. Stop this silly quest and killing of criminals. You're a killer, Maxine, embrace yourself again. Get our children back."_

"Get out of my head!"

 _"Never. You're mine."_

Max grabbed the pillow and buried her face in it as the darkness in her invaded her every thought and feeling. Screaming over and over again, she felt herself caving. No…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chicago: Kenny**

"Straight jacket?" Kenny asked numbly, looking at Ella through the glass. Damn it, Max, what did you do to her? Muzzle? "She's seven…is this…what's happening to her?"

"She ate a rat."

My baby, he thought, I can't do this. Damn it, Max, I need you right now. Our daughter needs you. My serial killer assassin wife…. I don't need her. Damn it, I do right now. I need my Max, not whatever lunatic she is now. She couldn't have known, even if he had her completely brainwashed, she saved Ella and Hannah. She went to him to save Ella. Deep down, not…she's a serial killer. She could have walked away, gotten help, came back to me. "What can I do?"

"Electroshock. I know you're against it."

"Will it help her?" Kenny asked, his heart shattering. "She still wants her mom?"

"She's the only thing she asks for."

He nodded. She'll check the board, she'll make contact. That part of her, the part that is still Max…Come on, Max, prove me wrong. Come back. Help her. "Do it."

 **Chicago: Max**

Kenny, she thought, letting her husband crawl into her mind. He did love me once…his perfect wife, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, docile, doing what he wanted, he was a great lover. Probably the best I ever had. She fiddled with her knife case, before sliding it into her bag, I do miss the way he made me scream in bed with those magic hands of his. Smiling, she took in her reflection, enjoying the new person she saw there. He wouldn't know what to do with this me. She smoothed back her choppy black hair, it's time to come home, Kenny.

Flipping open her laptop, itching for a kill before she dragged her husband and children home together, she froze as she came to a familiar message board. A trap. Like Mendelson. Good that he got hit by a car, they would never let up if I killed a Fed. Smiling a bit, no one calls me Maxine Lacos anymore. Clicking on the darknet link, she let out a laugh. Password, something only Kenny and I would know? What is he doing to me here? It's like he knows I want to see him again…my Kenny. Password…first kiss? I never told anyone about that Thanksgiving…hmm.

"Damn," she said, under her breath, as the file opened and her mind jerked her back to reality, banishing the screaming voice and her dark desires for a long moment. "No…"

 _Max. Please let this find you. I don't know any other way. You're a hard woman to track down. I don't know what is going on with you, but I know that you got Ella and Hannah out. You saved them from Noah. I'm hoping that part of you is still in there, the Max that I knew and loved, but Ella needs you. I can't help her, all she does is scream for you. The doctors said a time bomb is going off in her head. She's drugged, hearing voices, strapped down, they're using electroshock. Max, what did he do to her? She needs you now. Max, come home. You have my number. Use it. Kenny_

Ella, she thought, wrapping her arms around herself. No…He didn't. He wouldn't… I drank blood with her, I let her read those books…what did I let him do to her? She can't be like me. Voices…his voice, in her head, I can't…Ella, my baby. It's a trap, he must be baiting me because they didn't catch me with Mendelson. Ella is fine…what if she's not? Focus, research. Mommy's coming Ella.

 **Chicago: Kenny**

She didn't kill the FBI Agent, some drunk with a car did, he thought, even my lunatic wife isn't that good. Come on, Max, call. Let me wake up in the middle of the night with you holding a knife to my throat. She was a great mom, he thought, I think she surprised herself with that. Why wasn't it enough? Why wasn't I enough?

"Hello?" he said, his heart stopping at the blocked number. "Hello?"

"I got your note."

"Max?" he asked, her voice colder and flatter than he expected, but still her. "Where are you?"

"You have 10 seconds to tell me where Ella is, or I'm hanging up and you're on your own."

Max, he thought, three years…it's been three years and…serial killer, don't forget what she is now. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you?"

"Bullshit. You hate my guts. You want me to fix her? Tell me where she is and I'll do it."

Damn it, Max, he thought, she won't hang up. Not if it's Ella. "No. Not alone. She's dangerous, Max."

"We'll have that in common."

"You saved her once and it destroyed you. Not this time, Max. You're my wife, whether you like it or not, and she's our kid. I'm going with you. For once in your life, you're going to listen to me."

"Your wife?" she scoffed, hating that he was getting under her skin. That he still could. "Really?"

"Legally, Max. I never filed any papers."

"You should. Times up. Where is she?"

She won't, she loves Ella somewhere inside of her. "Max, wait."

"You can't trace this cell. You can keep me on as long as you want, but it won't matter. Where is our daughter?"

A crack, he thought, in her voice. She's worried. My Max is still in there, some part of her, she's a deranged killer, but she still loves our kids. Ella, she won't hurt her, I have to believe that of her. She'll spot a tail, a cop or FBI agent in the crowd. Hannah, I can't just leave her here while I chase after Max. I can't save her, she did destroy herself, she made her choices. If she can help Ella…God, she is nuts. She was the love of my life. "What are you going to do, Max?"

Bastard, she thought, stop calling me that. I'm not her anymore. "Where is she? I know she's not with you."

"Hannah is. She's three, Max. You saved her from Noah too."

In my head, she thought, he's still there. Talking to me, commanding me…I need to know. She's only four…no, seven now. "Who is in her head?"

Max, oh Max, he thought, hearing something familiar in her voice. "A voice, Max, she's screaming for you. You're all she wants. Max, please."

"What's it telling her?"

"To hurt people," he said, filling her in. "She needs you, Max. Get it together, our daughter needs you. I don't care what you've done right now. Ella needs you."

I did this, she thought numbly, I should have taken the book, never let her drink that…a time bomb in case I did this. Noah knew what he made me into, what I'm capable of, a punishment, a test…I failed. Ella…no. He's in her head too…I'm cracking up, I hear him all the time now and…No. Focus. I can't even help myself. I want to sink into the darkness, it would be so easy…later. Ella. Focus. "Where?"

The FBI will lock her up, study her, she can't hurt anyone there. She deserves to be in prison. A serial killer, she isn't Max anymore. "Meet me. Just us, Max."

"Not a chance."

"For Ella. That's all this is. No cops, no FBI, none of it. You and me. One last time."

Tempting, she thought, time with my husband. No, he isn't. I stopped being his wife the moment I knocked him out and ran away. He knows that. Oh, I want to though. Do it, for Ella. "Fine. The pub. You remember which one?"

"When?"

"Two hours. I'll see you there."

"Max?" he asked, as the line went dead on his phone. "Max? Damn it."

Max, he thought, she won't hurt Ella. She won't hurt me. She's not my Max anymore. Remember that, she's dangerous, merciless, a serial killer, paid assassin. God, I'm just as nuts as she is if I'm meeting her alone. She does this to me. Damn it, Max. Knowing it was the FBI calling, he didn't pause before it up. "Hello?"

"She's right, we couldn't trace her signal," Morell said in way of greeting. "What is this pub you're meeting her at?"

"You can't be there. She'll spot a set up."

"She's not an evil genius. She's a conditioned serial killer and will be blinded by her need to save her daughter."

If she can, he thought, she asked who is in Ella's head. Someone is in hers too. Noah, god I hate him, I need to get Ella back. Even if it means Max being free and …What happened to me? She'll keep murdering people until she's locked up. Trust the doctors. Not my serial killer wife. "It's Attwood Pub. She'll be there."

"So, will we."

 **Chicago: Max**

"Sorry, Kenny," she said out loud, turning her phone off and looking at Ella's school. "I wish we could keep our date tonight."

Slipping into the wall grate of the plans she downloaded from her contact, she tried not to think of him waiting for her in the first pub of that night together. It was fun, she mused, blowing off a romantic and boring dinner, for a night of cheap beer, wings and making out in dim hallways until three in the morning. How we used to be…What could have been.

"Mommy's coming, Ella."


	5. Chapter 5

**On the Road: Max**

"Mommy, you look different," Ella said, as Max sat with her in her arms. "I missed you, Mommy."

Max hugged her tighter, kissing the top of her head. "I know, Sweetie. I missed you too."

"Why did you leave me?"

Because I'm not safe, she thought, the voices, the itch, I can't control it. I don't want to hurt you. Tell her. She needs to know she isn't alone. Control it. Fight it. For Ella. "I hear it too, Ella. The voice telling me to do things. I wanted you and Hannah to be safe with your Dad. I knew he would keep you safe. He loves you and Hannah so much."

"I want to be with you."

I can't, Max thought, I can't be her mother again. I'll hurt her. She'll end up like me. She needs Kenny, her grandparents, sister, not me. I need to bring her back to Kenny. Fight. Be the mother she needs. "We are together, Sweetie. I'm always with you."

"Like Noah."

She gulped at that. Noah, my teacher, my lover, he created this new me. No, I let him. He tapped into the darkest parts of me, my recklessness, my need for danger, I liked it. He fed my ego, the part of me that drove Kenny insane. I knew I would kill him for Ella, for locking her away from me for those weeks, I knew that day one. I would let him make me whatever he wanted if I could save her. I didn't save her…I damned her, like I damned myself. Serial killer, criminal, assassin, kidnapper now, all for the daughter I couldn't save. I was too arrogant. "Noah is gone, Ella. He'll never hurt you again."

"Noah didn't hurt me. Noah loved me. He taught me things."

"Noah taught me too. They weren't good things, Sweetie," Max said softly, thinking back to the first few victims. How my hands shook, she thought, how scared I was until I turned it all off. I made myself emotionless, focusing on nothing but the cuts, enjoying Noah's admiration of me, I became his lover, and he let me see Ella again. I let him do this to us. It's my fault…I deserve what's coming to me. Not Ella. Never her. She can fight off what I couldn't. "He taught me how to hurt people. I know he made you watch me, Ella, your father told me. Oh, Ella, I was wrong, we shouldn't hurt people. You are too good to end up like that. Look at me, I love you. Your father loves you. Don't listen, Ella. Shut him out."

"I don't want to, Mommy."

I do, she thought numbly, at least I want to believe that. Serial killer, I can't escape that, he's screaming at me now…I can save her. "Why?"

"For you, Mommy. Noah said we would do it together. People would be afraid of us," Ella started. "Mommy?"

"I'm here. I'm not leaving you. Not ever again. Tell me what he said."

 **Chicago: Kenny**

I'll kill her, he thought, I will hold her down and make her feel every bit as much pain as everyone she killed.

"Kenny?" Jimmy asked, looking at his shattered deputy.

"No," he said. She set me up. She diverted all the attention from Ella's school to the pub. I thought I got through to her on some level. I heard the crack in her voice, the concern, she wasn't a monster then. She planned this, god damn it, she knew the entire time. She's a fucking sociopath. "That thing that took Ella? She planned this. Everything she…I hate her more than Noah Quinn. I want to rip her damn head off."

"She left a note," Morell said, watching him as he paced the length of Ella's room at school. "For you."

"What else can she possibly have to say?"

 **On the Road: Max**

"I had to do it to make you stay."

Damn it, Noah, she thought, I'd kill you again for this. I chose him, I should have fought him more, I didn't have to become like this. Damn it, feel, connect, she screamed at herself, be her mother. Be the person Kenny was trying to reach earlier. God, he hates me, he thought he could hide that, but I know him too well. He should hate me. He's going to kill me himself for this. "I didn't want to leave you. Look at me. What Noah taught me to do…I was afraid, Ella. I didn't want to hurt you or Hannah, that's why I left. I knew your Dad could keep you safe from me. I know now I can never hurt you. Just like you never want to hurt anyone."

"Don't leave Mommy."

Mommy, she thought, I loved being her mommy. "I won't, Ella. I love you."

 **Chicago: Kenny**

 _Kenny,_

 _Hate me. It's probably easier if you do. I know the voice in her head, it screams until you submit. It screams all the time. She can't stop. She doesn't know how. The only way I found was yoga and meditation and it's not working that well anymore. Neither of us want her ending up like me._

 _I almost wish I could have met you in the pub tonight. I'll be in touch._

 _Max_

"That almost sounds like her," Kenny admitted. Close to regret, he thought, thinking she's doing the right thing even if it's…Damn it, Max. She kidnapped Ella. Serial killer. Why did I ever think she'd trust me? She's been consistent in not.

"Where would she go?"

"Hell, if I know," Kenny said flatly. Where? Twelve hours head start. Focus. What would she do? Reckless, not stupid. Something cracked in her, I heard it, even if she thought she was acting, damn it, come on Max, get it together, you lunatic. Come on Max, give me something here. "What? She's been giving us nothing but the runaround for years. She's good and vanishing."

 **One the Road: Max**

Max laid next to her sleeping daughter, pulling her close to her side. Stroking her hair, she kissed her cheek. You're okay. You will be okay. Feeling more focused and calm than she had in years, she pulled her phone out. I shouldn't…Not yet. It isn't fair to him. He's worried, he already hates me, he should hate me. Damn me. He needs to know she's safe.

"Where the hell are you?" Kenny practically shouted at her. "I swear to God, Max, you get your ass back here with Ella right now."

Focus, she thought, his anger hurting. "You wanted my help."

"You kidnapped her!"

"I'm helping her," Max said calmly. "I couldn't do it from a prison cell."

"I wasn't," he started. "What did you expect? You're a god damn serial killer! Damn it, Max! You knew exactly what you were doing with that call. You fucking sociopath."

She gulped, his words cutting into her worse than any knife could. "Stop."

"Stop? Bullshit. This is your fault! Everything wrong with Ella is on you. You stupid, arrogant, psychotic bitch," he yelled, letting out the last three years of anger on her. "You destroyed our daughter! Forget about how you ran off, on your own, thinking nothing of…Damn you! You destroyed yourself instead of asking for help!"

I hurt him. Let him. He needs this. "Kenny."

"Shut up! You left us! You left me! I loved you! I needed you!" he ranted at her. "I would have done anything for you. You didn't trust me enough to help save our daughter. Oh, no, you had to run off with him and what good did it do? None, you fucking lunatic!"

I broke his heart, she thought, focus. Do what needs to be done. "Ella is safe."

"With you? Until you get stab happy?"

"You wanted my help and this is it," she said calmly. "I know what's in her head because I hear the same voice."

"You're not turning her into another you."

"Something we can agree on."

"Where are you?"

"Safe," she repeated. "I am what I am, but I'm not Noah."

"You both kidnapped Ella and carve people up with knives. You're exactly like him."

"Stop!" she screamed, breaking her façade of being calm and emotionless. Hearing the roar in her head. _No Maxine. Just no. Control yourself._

"Max?" Kenny asked, her scream causing him pause. "What's going on?"

"Get out of my head!"

 _You know what you must do._

"Max?" he asked again, as she screamed again. "Damn it, will you talk to me? What's going on?"

 _She's just like you. You don't want that._

"Max?" Kenny said. "Don't listen to him. Listen to me. Noah's not there. He can't hurt you or make you do anything. Come on, Sweetheart, I'm right here, I'm not hanging up. Talk to me. Max, come on, you're better than this. I know you're still in there."

 _I made you like me. You betrayed me. You will both pay now._

"I know," Kenny said, his heart shattering into a million pieces. "Fight it, Max, you can do this. Fight it. I'm right here with you."

"Kenny?"

"Hey there. You with me?"

"Ella can't end up like this," Max said flatly. "Good-bye, Kenny."

* * *

 **Final Chapter up this weekend…**


	6. Chapter 6

**Warning: It's going to get dark. Last chapter of the Revelation stories.**

* * *

 **Yoga Retreat: Max**

"Ella," Max whispered. "No, Sweetie, no."

"I want to listen to Noah," Ella said, as she broke the rabbits neck. "I want to stay with you."

 _I told you. Just like you, Maxine. Join me._

Ella took a bite, through the soft fur. "Mommy, have some."

 _You can't fix what isn't broken. This is who you both are._

"Mommy?"

Max crouched in the dirt next to her. I can't save us. I never could. Doomed. Damned. "Let's go back inside."

Ella nodded, looking up covered in blood. "I'm hungry, Mommy."

"I'll cook whatever you want."

 _It's time to come back to me, My Love._

"I want the cookies I made with Noah."

 _Look at her. She's begging to train._

No, Max thought, as the darkness flooded through her. Train her. She's ready. Noah made sure she'd be ready. Continue his work together. No, damn it! Fight it, Kenny kept telling me to fight it. Do the right thing…What is the right thing? I don't know anymore. Kenny, Noah…none of them. Don't listen to them. I used to know what to do…Ella needs me. What does she need me for?

 _Make me proud, Maxine._

She's perfect, Max thought, smoothing back Ella's long hair. She's just like me. No, she can't be. I have to save her from me.

 _Don't fight me on this. I don't want you to suffer. You don't want to hurt Ella, do you?_

Get out of my head, she screamed at herself, leave me alone.

 _I'm never leaving you, My Love._

"Mommy?" Ella pushed, as she hugged her tightly. "Mommy, are you sad?"

 _You don't want Ella sad._

"I'm not doing this," Max forced out. Save her. Noah isn't here. Prove to Kenny that I'm not the psychotic bitch he thinks I am. "Ella, listen to me. "

"Mommy, you sound like Daddy and the doctors. Noah said you'd be different. That you'd understand."

Max nodded, everything in her being screaming and ripping her apart. "I do understand, Sweetie. Noah tells me things all of the time, and it's really easy to listen to him. What's he telling you?"

"That I shouldn't waste my time bunnies. Mommy, you need to get me something bigger."

 _You know what to do, Maxine._

He's right. I do know.

 **Chicago: Kenny**

Max, damn it, why did I say all of that to her? She's unstable, insane, a killer, and all I did was push her. If she hurts someone, Ella, herself…no. She won't hurt Ella. She wants to save her. Max.

"Kenny."

He looked up. "I pushed her over the edge. She's out of her damn mind."

Jimmy glanced at the picture Kenny pulled up on his phone. "When is that from?"

Kenny shook his head. Me and Max. A million years ago. "Better times."

They look happy, Jimmy thought, having fun, a life, taking selfies of them making out. The life my deputies had not at the station, the one they kept separate that I barely got a glance of. They stopped working all of the time and built something together once they realized they got married in the sting and Max was pregnant. They figured out how really felt about each other. I think Kenny even understands what made her run off with Noah Quinn, even if he hates that she did it, and why she took their daughter. Somewhere, deep down, he still has some faith and trust in her, at least who she used to be. "It's okay to still care about her."

"For a few seconds…she sounded okay. Like Max and not..."

"She thinks she's doing the right thing with Ella."

"Stubborn and arrogant," Kenny trailed off. "Reckless and impulsive. It didn't matter, God, I loved her."

"Yoga," Morell said, rejoining them. "She's a yoga instructor in Boston. This woman look familiar?"

Max, Kenny thought, thinner, short dark hair…is she smiling? Yoga? Between psychotic breaks? "What?"

"Her name is Leah Carson. She's a ghost online beside a few pictures her friends posted. Look."

Max, he thought again, living it up? Friends, drinking wine, having a life…between killing people? A normal life? God damn it. Voices, she kept talking about the voices…her screams, pain, it was real. Even she doesn't deserve that.

"We're executing a search warrant on Leah Carson's apartment."

"She didn't bring Ella there."

"We need to know about Leah Carson."

She hid in plain sight, Kenny thought, happily killing people and teaching yoga. Max, my Max, the great love of my life. She was the other half of me, some days I think she still is. Yoga. That shouldn't be the weirdest part of this. What could have been. "She thinks she's doing the right thing."

"Like offing criminals as a paid assassin?"

"I didn't say she was right."

 **Yoga Retreat: Max**

 _Maxine, you're not listening._

No, I'm not, she thought, I should have never listened to you. I should have fought harder. Remember who I am…or who I was. Save my daughter. No matter what happens to me, I can still save her.

 _Follow your training._

Max looked at Ella, fascinated with her knife kit, and stifled a scream. I can't do this anymore. I need help. Ella needs help. There is no help for us. I doomed us the moment I went to him. I'm sorry, Kenny, I'm so sorry.

 _Make me proud._

"Ella," she said softly. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, playing with Max's favorite knife. "I know what to do, Mommy."

Sick, she thought, we're both sick. Finishing her text, she handed Ella a mug of cocoa. "It's getting cold out. Let's drink up and we'll go find what you need."

 **Chicago: Kenny**

"Wait," he said, as his phone beeped. "It's coordinates."

"From Max?" Jimmy asked, seeing him tense up. "Anything else?"

"Blocked number," he said. "It has to be here."

"It's two hours from here," Morell said. "A closed campground."

"I'm coming with you," Kenny stated, as his phone beeped again and the world dropped out from under him.

 **Yoga Retreat: Max**

"It's okay, Sweetie," Max whispered, stroking back Ella's hair. "Just sleep."

"Mommy?" she whimpered. "I'm sleepy."

Max kissed the top of her head. Make it right. Save her. Save myself. "Me too. I love you, Ella. I have since the moment I found out I was pregnant. I'm so sorry. For everything. We'll be okay now."

"I want Daddy here."

Max hugged her tighter. He can't save us. He's going to take such good care of Hannah, find that nice girl he needs in his life and marry her, and be happy. He doesn't need this from me anymore. "Daddy will be fine. Close your eyes, Ella."

 **Chicago: Kenny**

 _It's too late for Ella and me. She's too much like me already. I can't fix her…I can't stop Noah. It's too late…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything._

"Max," he said under his breath. No… "You need to get someone there now."

"What?"

 _I wish it could have different. I wish I never left you. These days with Ella reminded me of what we had, and what I threw away. I did this to all of us. You and Hannah deserve better. Ella and I won't be your burden anymore._

"It's a suicide note. She's going to kill them both."

 **Yoga Retreat: Max**

Max held Ella in arms, feeling herself slip away. Only choice. Only way to stop Noah from destroying Ella.

 **Chicago: Kenny**

 _I look back on our time together. You were my very best friend before you were my husband. Our time together was the best of my life, but I'd take it all back if it would fix the hurt and destruction I caused. I can't let Ella go down this path. She'll never know what this darkness feels like. Be happy, Kenny, give Hannah a wonderful life. This is all either Ella and I know anymore. Good bye._

"No," he breathed, steadying himself on the wall. "No…"

"Kenny," Jimmy said, seeing his shattered expression. "They'll get there in time."

"She planned it…just like with her kills and taking Ella. Max knows what she's doing," Kenny said numbly. "She's killing the both of them and…no one can stop it. She's killing our daughter…how can she think that…"

"We don't know that. She could just be playing games."

"She's not playing games."

 **6 Months Later: Kenny**

"Hey, Kiddo," Kenny said quietly, sitting down by Ella's grave in Chicago like he had done every day since her body was found in her mother's arms. "It's just your Dad again. Hannah misses you, but…I'm not coming back for a while. We're…she needs a fresh start, away from all of this. I love you, Ella, I'll always love you."

He closed his eyes, willing himself not to see the crime scene photos, Ella dead in Max's arms. In the morgue, her fingernails caked with blood, rabbit stuck in her teeth…My baby girl, the one I couldn't save. The one Max…Max's last victim. No, Max held her as she died, before taking the pills. The reason she became a serial killer…Max. Ella. How to I even begin to say good-bye and leave her here? Not her, Max made sure of that, just a body.

"Ella," he tried again. "I'm so sorry."

Max, he thought, his anger flaring up again at his dead wife. Brainwashed, he thought, no, this was all her. I can never forgive her for this. She killed Ella and herself…New life with Hannah. She'll never know about her mother. Fresh start, changing our names, life at the beach, nothing bad will ever happen to her.

* * *

 **The End**


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